Photos of the New Tosca Café in San Francisco
The Spotted Pig's Ken Friedman and April Bloomfield just took over and reopened San Francisco's classic Tosca Café. So, what changes are in store? Read our full interview with Friedman here, and click through the slides above for a peek at the new (old) space.
1/16Welcome! Ken Friedman and April Bloomfield went to great lengths to keep the original character of the Tosca intact.
Gentl & Hyers2/16Barman Isaac Shumway oversees the cocktail program.
3/16Like all of Bloomfield and Friedman's ventures, Tosca can't help but bring in crowds.
4/16Tosca's iconic neon sign reflects in some of the opera–related paraphernalia in the restaurant.
5/16Longtime owner Jeannette Etheredge brought together celebrities and locals for decades.
6/16Friedman attempted to keep the ambiance of Tosca intact, even though many of the furnishings required significant restoration.
7/16The key change at Tosca: It now serves food.
8/16Chef Bloomfield's chicken for two is representative of Tosca's simple Italian dishes.
9/16The jukebox plays mostly opera music. It used to cost a quarter; now it's free.
10/16Friedman added lighting to showcase the recently restored murals.
11/16Bloomfield's Italian menu features pastas, such as bucatini with tomato, guanciale and chili.
12/16The dish on most patrons' plates? Meatballs.
13/16Tosca Cafe's located on a busy stretch of North Beach, San Francisco's historically Italian neighborhood.
14/16While the bar has a coffee program overseen by Sightglass Coffee, the vintage machine here is used pretty much exclusively to steam milk for the famous Tosca Cappuccino.
15/16While the Tosca Cappuccino has received an update, its most important feature remained intact: There's no coffee in it.
16/16If this floor looks like it's seen a lot, that's because it has. Friedman opted to keep the old tiles in place rather than replicate a new version of it.
